Tag Archives: APS-C

Canon has announced the G1 X Mark III, the first camera in the PowerShot Series to feature a APS-C sensor. The sensor is the same one as used by the EOS 77D and EOS M5, with a resolution of 24MP and Dual Pixel AF capabilities. Image processing is performed by the DIGIC 7 processor, also the same as the cameras mentioned previously.

ISO range is between 100 to 25,600, and the fixed zoom lens has a range of 24-72mm f/2.8-5.6 (35mm equivalent.) The compact body weighs just 400g, so essentially, it’s like a EOS M5 with a fixed zoom lens. The G1 X Mark III can shoot continuously at 7fps, and up to 9fps with fixed AF and the Dual Pixel System. There is optical image stabilisation on the lens, and 5-axis movie image stabilisation to help with the low light situations.

Canon PowerShot G1 X Mark III Rear LCD

At the back of the camera is a 2.36-million dot OLED EVF as well as a 3″ Vari-angle touchscreen LCD. You can also use the touch and drag AF to move the focussing point while shooting without taking your eyes off the EVF. The G1 X Mark III is also weather-sealed and does 1080/60p video recording. Sadly, no 4K recording is available.

The Canon PowerShot G1 X Mark III will be available from November 2017 at US$1,299.

The Nikon D500 is probably one of the best, if not the best, semi-professional APS-C DSLR ever made. Today, Nikon released a mini version of the D500, in the form of the D7500. This is the 3rd camera in the Nikon D7000 series, with the D7000 and D7200 preceding it.

The D7500 features a body which is 5% lighter than the D7200 and 16% lighter than the D500 (hence I called it a mini D500 here) as well as a deepened grip for better handling. Nikon has also improved the weather-sealing of the D7500. Powering it is a new EN-EL15a battery capable of 950 shots per charge, which sounds like a lot, but is actually 15% lower than that of the D7200. That’s a slight bummer.

Inherited from the D500 is the same 20.9MP CMOS APS-C sensor, Expeed 5 image processor and the 180k-pixel RGB metering sensor. It is also capable of capturing video at 4K at 30fps. ISO can be set from 100 to 51,200, and expanded to an equivalent of 1.64 million, though images will probably be rubbish at that ISO. But hey, it’s available if you really need to capture something in the darkness.

Nikon D7500 with AF-S 18-140mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR

The LCD is now tiltable and touchable, although it remained at the same 3.2″ as its predecessors. Unfortunately removed, however, are the predecessors’ dual SD card slots. The D7500 now has only ONE, and it does not support UHS-II media. You gain something, you lose something.

D7500 Tilt LCD

The D7500 is capable of continuous shooting at 8fps with full AF and AE, with a buffer that stores up to 50 RAW+JPEG photos at 14-bit compression, or up to 100 JPEGs. Like the D7200 before it, the D7500 has 51 AF points (15 cross-type), that’s almost a 3rd of what the 135 AF points that the D500 has (though only 55 are selectable.)

The D7500 will be available this summer for US$1,249 for the body alone, or US$1,749 with a AFS 18-140mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR lens.

Canon has announced the EOS 80D, an update to the popular EOS 70D. The resolution has been bumped up to 24.2MP, still on a APS-C sensor. The AF module 45 cross-type AF points and an updated Dual Pixel AF for Live View still and video recording. Canon claims that the new AF module is capable of focussing down to -3EV at the centre point. Video recording capabilities have also been updated to allow for up to 1080/60p recording.

The EOS 80D has a native ISO range of 100-16,000, expandable to 25,600. The viewfinder offers approximately 100% coverage while the 3″ fully-articulated rear LCD has a resolution of 1.04M dots. Built-in Wi-Fi with NFC as well as GPS are also available on the EOS 80D.

The Canon EOS 80D will be available in March for $1,199 for the body alone, or $1,799 when bundled with an updated EF-S 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM kit lens.

There sure are many camera releases over the last month! The latest is Sony’s new a6300 announced today. It boasts the world’s fastest AF and the world’s highest number of AF points. Every camera manufacturer seems to be claiming this, and Sony’s fine print qualifies that it has the fastest AF among APS-C cameras as of Feb 2016, and the highest number of AF points applies to interchangeable lens cameras as of Feb 2016 based on their research.

The super fast AF is achieved by Sony’s 4D FOCUS system that can lock focus on a subject in as little as 0.05s (hmm, sounds like other cameras too). It also has an incredible 425 phase detection AF points that are densely populated over the entire image area. It can shoot up to 11fps with continuous AF and exposure tracking.

The new a6300 supports full live-view continuous shooting on the Tru-Finder EVF or LCD screen at up to 8fps. This produces a real-time shooting experience that combines all the benefits of an EVF with the immediacy of a TTL optical view finder.

The XGA OLED-based EVF has 2.4M dots and a 120fps frame rate for smooth, lag-free viewing, whilst the tilt 3″ LCD screen below it has a resolution of 921,600 dots. Unfortunately, it’s not a touch screen. The magnesium-alloy body is sealed from the elements and has 9 customisable buttons.

Sony a6300 tilting LCD

The camera has a 24.2MP APS-C sized CMOS sensor, that together with the BIONZ X image processing engine produces outstanding image quality within the ISO range of 100–51,200 (expanded.) The sensor uses copper wiring within its structure, which Sony said will “improve light collection efficiency and significantly accelerate the readout speed.”

The video capabilities are pretty impressive. The a6300 can capture 4K with full pixel readout and no pixel binning in Super 35mm. This is done by using a 20MP (6K) region of the sensor to offer a 2.4x oversampled 4K video, giving a sharp, low noise footage, even in low light. A S-Log3 gamma setting as well as S-Gamut are available to achieve a higher dynamic range and wider colour space, allowing for greater creativity for video post-production.

The Sony a6300 will be available from March for US$1,000 (body only) or US$1,150 with a 16-50mm f/3.5-5.6 kit lens.

David: News of Fujifilm’s new X100S, a seminal update to the venerable game changer (IMHO) hit the web a few hours earlier than the NDA scheduled due to a uhmmm… accidental leak on Fuji’s UK website (riiiigghhht), but rumors of it have been floating around the net a few days before, so it wasn’t a complete shocker to me.

But what a camera…. what an update. Rather than go through all the specs laboriously one by one (other sites do it better, e.g. Fuji’s own X-series website), as a X100 fan and active user, I want to highlight the key features of this update which may have eluded those of you unfamiliar with the X100. This is NOT a news update, but think of it as my ode to one of the most enjoyable cameras I’ve ever used. So, here goes…..